This application relates generally to technical support for devices. More specifically, this application relates to remotely provided technical support for electronic or mechanical devices, examples of which include personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, handheld computers, tablet or pad computers, and the like.
As used herein, the phrase “technical support” refers broadly to a range of services that may be provided in maintaining or updating the functionality of devices. By way of example, such technical support may include the diagnosis of malfunctions with the devices or with software loaded on the devices, may include the repair of the devices or of software loaded on the devices, may include updating software loaded on the devices, may include loading new software on the devices, and the like. Technical support may be provided under a variety of different circumstances, such as in response to a malfunction of hardware or software as might be caused by an innocent conflict in different software loaded on the device or as a result of malicious infection by a software virus. It may also be provided when incompatibilities in software have resulted from upgrades or when a customer desires to upgrade software even in the absence of such incompatibilities.
Technical support is currently provided to the users of devices in a variety of different ways depending on different situations and environments in which such devices are used. For example, those who sell and/or lease devices to customers frequently provide technical-support services for those devices either free or on a fee basis. This model applies to both private and organizational customers and may take the form of having technical-support staff visit a private or organizational site to perform technical support on a device, or may take the form of providing technical support in the form of guidance provided remotely by telephone, by email, through a web site, or the like.
In addition to technical support provided by the seller or lessor of a device, many organizations, particularly larger organizations, have a technical staff that is employed to provide technical support to other employees of the organization. This technical staff may, moreover, provide technical support directly with a particular device or may act as an expert intermediary with the technical support provided by the seller or lessor of the device. Such technical staff may at times make contact with the seller or lessor to obtain guidance by telephone, email, a web site, or the like, or may coordinate an in-person visit by a technician provided by the seller or lessor of the device.
In still other circumstances, some third-party businesses provide technical support to individuals, businesses, or both. Such service providers may be equipped to provided technical support to a variety of different kinds of devices produced by a variety of different sellers, providing an arrangement that is particularly convenient for private individuals needing technical support. In addition to providing guidance by telephone, email, web site, or the like, such technical-support business may provide options to customers either to have an on-site visit by a technician or to have customers bring or send their devices to a service location where staff will perform the technical support
There are deficiencies with each of these models. Many individuals are uncomfortable performing support functions when guided by telephone or email because they are not confident in their ability to perform those functions without disrupting other functionality of the device. Guidance given by such mechanisms is well-recognized to be less effective than those models in which a service technician has direct access to the device—instructions given by the service technician may be misunderstood, the individual following them may give inaccurate or incomplete information to the technician, and it may be difficult for the technician to respond to unexpected behavior in the device when provided with such inaccurate or incomplete information. At the same time, there are significant costs associated with having a technician visit the site where the device is located, whether that site be a business location or location of an individual. Such costs may be mitigated when the device is brought to a location where the technician is located, but even in such instances there are costs associated with maintaining technicians having diverse skill sets at different hours in each location that may be convenient for multiple customers.
There is accordingly a need in the art for improved methods and systems for providing technical support.